Don't sweat it, Mikey. I'm actually quite flattered that my opinion has such a great impact on you, so much so that you took the time to type up lengthy post after post to justify yourself to me. You're my number one fan and I appreciate you. I will have some Force Guy T-shirts made up and as soon as they're done, I'll send you one. XXXL, yes?

Quote

I just greatly enjoy putting idiots in their place, that's all, and sometimes that takes more than pathetic one-liners to adequetly accomplish.

Wow, pretty pathetic if you get your jollies from "putting idiots in their place." If I'm supposedly such an idiot, and you take the time to respond with lengthy post after post, uh, what does that make you? Think about it.

I know you want to look witty and cool and impress people on a toy forum, and I know you were pretending to be Dr. Phil earlier, but let's analyze you for a minute. You get joy from "putting idiots in their place" on a toy forum, and you feel the need to buy everything with a Star Wars logo stamped on it so that you can get that feeling of being "complete".....hmmm.....sounds like there's something major missing from your life. A void that can never be filled, but you obviously get comfort from collecting little plastic men. Don't worry though, I'm here for you. I'll give you my email and/or phone number so we can talk. I'm here to support you. Maybe you just need a hug, in which case, I can't help you. But here's a virtual hug in the meantime.

In fact, why would speedermike be asking folks who are already selective with their figure purchasing if they're going to remain selective based on the relatively boring waves 1 & 2 of the new 2013 line? Aside from the obvious B-A-D aspect (which Mike isn't emphasizing), that'd be a borderline stupid and seemingly repetitive question.

[/Mikey]

Um, I've been nothing but civil in this discussion and don't really appreciate my question being called "borderline stupid."

Seconded... There's established stuff and the PT, because Lucas is a bit of an ego-maniac IMO, simply ignored all the stuff that made him a lot of money simply for the sake of ego I think... The infamous story of Coruscant alone makes you really think this guy's a control freak of epic proportions.

Don't sweat it, Mikey. I'm actually quite flattered that my opinion has such a great impact on you, so much so that you took the time to type up lengthy post after post to justify yourself to me. You're my number one fan and I appreciate you. I will have some Force Guy T-shirts made up and as soon as they're done, I'll send you one. XXXL, yes?

Wow, pretty pathetic if you get your jollies from "putting idiots in their place." If I'm supposedly such an idiot, and you take the time to respond with lengthy post after post, uh, what does that make you? Think about it.

I know you want to look witty and cool and impress people on a toy forum, and I know you were pretending to be Dr. Phil earlier, but let's analyze you for a minute. You get joy from "putting idiots in their place" on a toy forum, and you feel the need to buy everything with a Star Wars logo stamped on it so that you can get that feeling of being "complete".....hmmm.....sounds like there's something major missing from your life. A void that can never be filled, but you obviously get comfort from collecting little plastic men. Don't worry though, I'm here for you. I'll give you my email and/or phone number so we can talk. I'm here to support you. Maybe you just need a hug, in which case, I can't help you. But here's a virtual hug in the meantime.

[hugs]Hug[/hug]

Thank you for so eloquently proving my point there, Force Guy. Like I said...

Um, I've been nothing but civil in this discussion and don't really appreciate my question being called "borderline stupid."

Mike, sorry for the confusion, but youíre completely misreading my comment there. Itís again directed at Force Guy, and is effectively suggesting that he is being borderline stupid for not having a better understanding of your question here, and what kind of collectors itís actually more geared towards. Iím not sure how much more clear I couldíve been in regards to your topic than when I said this:

I'd like to think I'll quit next year, since this year has been not finding anything and struggling to rationalize buying stuff when I do. Thought about the online route, but $13 a figure...twice what I was paying per figure when I got back into Star Wars in 2005-2006. Am I getting twice the enjoyment? Not usually. Ordering a case? There's never that many figures in case to make that a realistic option. And there's the scarcity, I find myself not opening figures because who knows? That figure might be going for 3 times what I paid for it. Very tempting to sell it and hope I find another one. And that's almost scalping (though I never did resell anything), which is not collecting, and not fun. It's absurd.

My collecting is dysfunctional at this point. And I'm only a casual collector. But it not possible to collect current Star Wars like that.

I'm looking to hang it up after that last group of vintage figures comes out and I grab that BMF reissue. About the only thing I'm interested in next year is Jocasta Nu, so I'll get that when it comes out. I really can't think of anything else I would want Hasbro to make other than more characters on vintage cards (like Garindan) but that would technically make me a cardboard collector.

I think Droid Factory is a great thing, but I really don't want to feel compelled to buy new versions of things I already have to complete a droid. I'll see what 2014 brings, and welcome the break in 2013.

Like many others here, I've been really contemplating collecting lately as well. For many of the same reasons listed before (family, funds, space, distribution, etc.), I've been looking to cut down on what I collect a little bit. On the other side of things, I still have the passion for collecting SW, and imagine that I'll always be in it to some extent until the end. I just like it too much still.

That being said, I haven't quite decided what to do with the start of Droid Factory next year. It is a great idea, to be sure, but I'm just not super psyched about some of the figures coming up. They all look well done, but I just don't care about re-dos or re-releases of clonetroopers and things like that at this point. Wave 1 in particular is sort of a snoozer aside from the build a droids, and I'm trying to consider if I really want those bad enough to buy a number of figures I don't really care about. Wave 2 is better, but still not necessarily needing them all. And I'm a person who likes the resculpts, particularly of OT figures, so it isn't just that. The overall choices are just a little ho-hum.

There's also things like the Speeder bike, the recent Ewok set, or even last year's Taun Taun that really get me excited for collecting as well. I've also enjoyed the run that TVC has had, and I can't wait for that final wave. In the end, I may just end up buying everything again next year (as I did last time there were build a droids), but I also look at it as a good chance to get more selective and save a lot of money. Although I've bought the majority of the line over the years, recently I've been gravitating even more towards the OT side of things (which was always the case anyways), and the figures that excite me the most for the most part in the waves we've seen are those as well. I also like the CW realistic stuff, so I'll likely get those too. Other than that, we'll see. Like I said, they look nice, but I really don't care about more clones, droids, or even Geonosians for the most part. Nice figures, just have enough I guess.

Also, I really hate buying/collecting stuff just to pack it away or have it laying around - so that has helped to curtail the spending a bit too. I went through and sorted through some displays this year and packed up a lot of stuff that was cluttering up our office. I used to have the mindset that I'd get it out "someday" when I had more space, but I just don't see that happening anytime soon - and by the time it does, I may not be interested in that anymore. It has gotten to more of, if I can't display it, I sell it or give it to our daughter to play with. I still have the enthusiasm for the SW line, but I look at next year as a chance to cut back just because there is so much I already have (and don't really need more of).

Honestly, if I could get past wanting the build a droids, my buying would probably look something like this:

Still most of the figures I guess, but a much cheaper year overall. Honestly, if all I collected was the "collector" segment of the SW line, it wouldn't be all that bad either with 30ish figures next year and likely a few exclusives.

I've always been what I would call a "dedicated casual collector" (I only buy the figures I want, and generally only when I find them at retail - although that's changed recently), but I'm so shocked by how disinterested I am with the upcoming Legacy Collection. Except for the realistic TCW figures and Mara Jade, I have almost no interest in buying the rest of the lot... maybe it's because TVC is almost impossible to top or maybe because the character selection for LC thus far really just is a yawn - but it's a shame because I remember the good 'ol times when I could walk into a Target and jump with an awkward seizure of convulted joy when I would find a COOL action figure, you know? A really ultra-cool character, you know? But I feel Hasbro has pretty much hit a lot of characters out of the ball park... and now we're getting figures like another Ep.II Anakin, or another Sandtrooper. It's really disappointing and disheartening, because I was always one to willingly spend my money on these things, but that's really changed to the point it's just downright sad.

Logged

"'Want to see a trick I learned at the Sith Temple? It's called "'Force Choke.'"

Thought this might be a good one to bump up with the recent announcements of more Star Wars movies on the way. Does the confirmation of Episode 7 (as well as 8 and 9, and maybe beyond) change your outlook for collecting into the future? Has it reignited the fire knowing that there will be new characters, vehicles, etc. from these movies hitting plastic for the first time, or does it work better as a jumping off point?

Honestly, prior to this announcement, I sort of thought Star Wars was slowing down. There were more and more figures I was starting to skip, I had cut back to basically just OT for vehicles/beasts/etc., and sort of started telling the Mrs. that I could "see the light at the end of the tunnel" of things. I didn't think it was going to disappear in the next couple years, but it seemed like things were winding down. Now, with new movies, that all changes.

If I'm being honest, I know I'll be there the first day the toys are available and likely buying quite a bit of it. It all depends on the material, since we know pretty much nothing about these movies, but I know I'll likely be hyped up with the prospect of new SW movies on the horizon. That being said, I think I'll be much more restrained this time around than I was during the PT (particularly ROTS, which was my worst spending spree). It is easy to say now, a few years out, but I feel (hope) that I've gotten smarter and a bit more patient with what I buy these days and I wouldn't go quite as nuts when this day comes.

I can also see why people might just check out the movies and avoid a lot of the collectibles. I've always said I'd be "in" in some capacity until the end, and I still feel that way, but I honestly didn't think we'd have another trilogy (meaning about 10 years of toy aisle time) coming up, and we know the releases tend to be fast and furious during those years. Right now, I don't have any room for what could potentially be three movies worth of product, so who knows what will happen when the time comes. I'll always be in it to some capacity, but maybe pace things a little more. Again, it all depends on what the movies are about, and if I'm into them. I don't want to keep buying it just because it is "Star Wars". Overall though, I'm likely still there opening day, so I doubt that my collecting habits will change much more than I was already planning. If anything, it has made me think about the other things I collect outside of SW. Knowing that these movies are on the way (and likely a big toy line with each), it makes me think about cutting back (or out) a lot of other stuff in preparation for this. I really can't keep spending hundreds/thousands of dollars on toys for another 10-12 years, budget or space wise, or at least I didn't plan on it.

For me, as long as I think it looks cool, I'll probably buy it. I've got a whole bunch of PT stuff, and I'm not a huge huge PT fan, but I like a lot of the design work and overall concepts, which is all it takes for me to pick it up.